08/31/2026
Just because you don't know where it is, doesn't mean God can't use it!!
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A Bible lost for nearly 16 years at a small airport in South Africa has been returned to its owner in a story that culminated with the baptism of the man who found it, former Seventh-day Adventist world church President Pastor Ted Wilson has testified.
In a heartfelt Facebook post, Wilson shared how De-Wald Steyn, a South African who found his Bible while working at Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport between 2011 and 2013, eventually returned it to him in January 2026 before being baptized by Wilson on Sabbath, August 22, 2026, at the Dodge Center Seventh-day Adventist Church in Minnesota.
"Some of you may remember the wonderful story about my lost Bible that I shared last January at the GYC convention in Orlando," Wilson wrote. "It was a very precious Bible to me and I grieved its loss. For nearly 16 years I was without this Bible, but unbeknownst to me, God was using my lost Bible to find a precious soul!"
The saga began in 2010 when Wilson, then a general vice president of the General Conference, left his study Bible on an airplane in South Africa. Despite desperate efforts to locate it, the Bible seemed gone forever. Wilson, who would be elected General Conference president months later, had resigned himself to the lossβbut continued to pray.
Meanwhile, Steyn, a young man working at the airport, discovered the Bible in the lost-and-found office. He began reading its underlined verses and handwritten notes, feeling a deep connection to its unknown owner. When no one claimed it after two years, he took it with him, and the Bible traveled the world with himβto the United States, back to South Africa, to Qatar, and finally to North Dakota and Kansas, where he worked as a beekeeper and later a ranch hand.
The Bible was a constant companion through the COVID years, marriage, fatherhood, and immigration to the United States. In 2025, while organizing his closet, Steyn felt a strong impression to return it. He searched for the name written insideβ"Ted N. C. Wilson"βand discovered he was a prominent Adventist leader.
Wilson invited Steyn and his family to the GYC convention in Orlando, Florida, where, on January 3, 2026, in front of nearly 8,000 young people, Steyn returned the Bible. "This is the first time in almost 16 years that I have even touched or seen this Bible," Wilson exclaimed.
Afterward, Wilson began studying the Bible with Steyn twice a week over Zoom, using It Is Written materials. "Friends, you may have been praying for something for a long time, with seemingly no answer. Nevertheless, we can always trust GodβHis way and timing is always perfect!" Wilson wrote. "Perhaps He is using something you 'lost' to find a soul for Him!"
On August 22, 2026, that soul was baptized.
Gsignal | Evans Adindu
